Jagdtiger Tank Destroyer

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The Tiger II chassis, in accordance with the Heereswaffenamt policy at the time, was planned to be used as the basis for a tank destroyer variant. A full scale wooden model was demonstrated on 20 October 1943 at Arys, East Prussia, and 150 vehicles were ordered. The first production vehicle was demonstrated on 6 April 1944 in Kummersdorf. Due to shortages of components and disruption by bombing only forty-eight vehicles were completed during that year, and a total of seventy-six by the end of the war. These had serial numbers from 305001 to 305076. They were built by Steyr-Daimler-Puch at their Nibelungen-Werk, St. Valentin.The Jagdtiger used a slightly extended Tiger II chassis with the hull sides extended upwards to form an armoured barbette in place of the turret. A 250mm front plate, 80mm back plate and a bolted roof completed the superstructure. This mounted the 12.8cm PaK 80 in an armoured mantlet 250mm thick, though early production vehicles had the 12.8cm PaK 44. Due to the shortage of these weapons some vehicles were armed with the same 8.8cm PaK 43/3 as used in the Jagdpanther tank destroyer. Jagdtigers received a coating of Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste until September 1944. This was on the hull front and sides, to a line halfway up the barbette sides.Five of the first six Jagdtigers, all but 305002, were experimentally fitted with a torsion bar suspension system designed by Dr Porsche. This was essentially a variation of that used on the Elefant tank destroyer. It had eight roadwheels each side, each pair of roadwheels being suspended by a longitudinal torsion bar, and was designed to simplify production. The standard Henschel system had nine roadwheels per side, each with its own transverse torsion bar. The Porsche suspension was accepted only for limited production and was eventually used on ten vehicles in total. One vehicle, used for training, had the same narrow track that was fitted to the Elefant.From July 1944 sheet metal covers were added around the exhaust pipes to reduce their glow at night, and from August an external gun travel lock was fitted to the glacis plate, in addition to the interior one. In September full production of the Jagdtiger with the Henschel suspension began. This used the standard Tiger II track and 9-tooth sprocket. From November the 20ton roadwheel jack was deleted from its position on the rear plate, and from December mounting hooks for six sets of spare tracks were welded to each side of the superstructure. February 1945 saw the addition of four Befehlskran sockets to the top of the superstructure, hand grips over the rear doors, and dual handles on the driver’s and radio operator’s hatches. Also, at some point during production, an AA column mount was fitted on the engine deck of some vehicles. (Source: L. Archer).

This is one of the Jagdtigers that were built with Porsche suspension and is fitted with the same 18-tooth sprockets as used on the Porsche turret Tiger II. One of its suspension bogies broke off during testing. It was captured at Haustenbeck, Sennelager, in Germany, at the same time as the Bovington Porsche King Tiger tank. It was brought to Britain for evaluation in 1946. An early model Tiger (used for fording trials), an E-100 heavy tank and a Grille self-propelled gun were also brought back for evaluation, but these are believed to have been scrapped during the 1950’s. It has the chassis number 305004 and was built in August 1944; it has special tracks, type Gg24/800/8300, that were developed for use with the Porsche suspension (source: L. Archer).

This is one of two Jagdtigers abandoned at Neustadt, near Wied, in Germany. It was built in October 1944 and has chassis number 305020. It had the tactical number “331” and carried an ‘ambush’ camouflage scheme. It has an anti-aircraft mount for an MG 42 on the engine deck. (Source: L. Archer). It is believed to have belonged to 1 Company, schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung 512, although some sources state it came from sPzJgAbt 653. The other one had a faulty cooling system and could not be made mobile. This one may have been lost through lack of fuel; neither was disabled by its crew. This Jagdtiger had taken a number of hits but was otherwise in good condition. It has at least two ricochet marks on the glacis plate and it may have been one of these projectiles that has gouged a piece out of the gun mantlet. It was in this condition when it was captured by US troops. It was refuelled, and later transported to America for evaluation.

This Jagdtiger has Russian text painted on the glacis plate, next to its Russian headlamp, which translates as “Sterburg 5 5-1945”, the location and date of its capture.It was built in March 1945, one of the last Jagdtigers to be completed, and was captured from sPzJgAbt 653. It is a standard late production model with four Befehlskran mounts, six track shoe hooks per side, and no jack. (Source: L. Archer).